ENGL 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Conifer Cone, Firmament, Golden Fleece
Document Summary
Donne"s poetry represent private voices, and he was an amateur. Ben jonson is the opposite, his poetry reflects public-ness and public voices. He is self consciously a professional poet. This is a contrast to make between the two writers. This was a whole farrago of poetic endeavors. This is his bid to be taken seriously. Ben jonson was born in 1572-73 (not sure) His father died a month before he was born, and was raised by his step-father, a brick. It was very unusual during this time for poets to do this layer. He went to a good grammar school and worked in his father"s trade. He went to fight in the low countries, and brag when he was there that he killed a man in single combat. Therefore, he is a very masculine figure, in a hemmingway sort of way. He starts acting when he returns to england. He starts top write plays in the 1590s.